After feeling a bit better about the breast feeding with the lactation consultant (LC), we just had a horrible, no good, very bad breast feeding experience. I know, that is total exaggeration. (I just like the phrase from the children's book.)
We got home from a pediatrician visit (lots of appointments today!) and Natalia was hungry, so I got out the SNS (supplemental nursing system - see the next post down), found out it was much harder to use at home than at the clinic, where the lactation consultant just put it together and did it all for me. After figuring out how to put it together, though, I was ready to nurse! When I started nursing, Talia just wouldn't latch and I realized that other than having the lactation consultant latch Natalia onto my boob, I really had no idea how to use the SNS and the nipple shield, nor new ideas on how to help her latch and suck.
I was so excited that everything worked at the clinic, I didn't really think about the fact that I didn't "do" any of it. The LC was holding my boob, holding her head, setting up the latch and everything. So, we had a great nursing there, but I have no clue how to reproduce what she did while at home.
Thankfully, though, we have a different LC that does at home support who is going to come tomorrow to the house and help out here! We have talked to a bunch of people who say that having someone come to the house can really help out a lot when you are having problems. Also, she came highly recommended from a post-partum doula.
Speaking of the at-home LC, the clinic LC realized that we were having someone coming to our house, because I had written the person's name in the notebook with my nursing notes, and she just couldn't shut up about it the whole hour long session. She kept on saying how unethical she thought it was that the woman (who works as a LC at a hospital during the day) was charging to come to the house when it's also her day job, and how she disliked this woman so much, over and over.
Alayna and I kept on trying to change the topic, and the clinic LC just wouldn't let go of it. I don't think there is anything unethical about charging to offer a service that the hospital, clinic and health insurance don't offer, like private, in-home lactation services. I think it is unprofessional, though, to look at other notes I have in my notebook and go on and on about a private choice we are making. We didn't ask for her opinion! It was an interesting look into what is apparently the drama of lactation consulting in our city.
So, at the time I thought the lactation meeting was soooo helpful, and in many ways it was: I now have a SNS system free of charge and an awesome hospital grade breast pump, that the insurance pays 80%. But, I am really hoping tomorrow's LC will give me some more concrete skills!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Today
Mateo has started doing this really cute thing when he wakes up in the morning. I guess Sacha has been asking him for a long time if he had nice dreams in the night and now he's started doing it himself. I'll go in to get him and ask him if he slept well and then he'll say "Nice dream?" Then I'll ask him if he had a nice dream and he'll say who he dreamt about. It's always a person and currently it's our friends down the street. "Dream Alesha," he'll say, "dream Steve." It is just the freaking cutest thing ever.
We just got back from a lactation consultation and I'm very pleased to say that no one got sent back to the hospital this time! Sacha and Talia have really been struggling with breastfeeding - mostly latching and sucking, which are pretty major issues - and finally this lactation consultant was able to help. She got Sacha started using a supplemental nursing system and Sacha's own pumped breast milk. We actually have some experience with the SNS from when Mateo was a baby. Natalia's been getting supplemental bottles of pumped breastmilk during feedings when she just won't latch or suck at all, which have been many, and so she's used to having an immediate flow of milk. The SNS gives her that immediate flow while encouraging her to latch on and feed right from Sacha herself.
The best part was the after-feed weigh-in. The scale told us that Talia had gotten even more milk from Sacha than she had from the SNS, which is really good news. It means that all the pumping she's been doing to boost her supply, in the absence of a lot of nursing, is paying off. The LC seemed confident that the baby would eventually be able to breastfeed without all the equipment, so here's hoping!
Also, Sacha's mom is leaving today and my mom is now here for a week. We are so grateful to both of them. I also want to send out a big thank you to Apa and to my aunt, uncle, and two cousins, who watched Mateo on consecutive days so I could visit my girls in the hospital. It meant so much to us. Thank you!!
We just got back from a lactation consultation and I'm very pleased to say that no one got sent back to the hospital this time! Sacha and Talia have really been struggling with breastfeeding - mostly latching and sucking, which are pretty major issues - and finally this lactation consultant was able to help. She got Sacha started using a supplemental nursing system and Sacha's own pumped breast milk. We actually have some experience with the SNS from when Mateo was a baby. Natalia's been getting supplemental bottles of pumped breastmilk during feedings when she just won't latch or suck at all, which have been many, and so she's used to having an immediate flow of milk. The SNS gives her that immediate flow while encouraging her to latch on and feed right from Sacha herself.
The best part was the after-feed weigh-in. The scale told us that Talia had gotten even more milk from Sacha than she had from the SNS, which is really good news. It means that all the pumping she's been doing to boost her supply, in the absence of a lot of nursing, is paying off. The LC seemed confident that the baby would eventually be able to breastfeed without all the equipment, so here's hoping!
Also, Sacha's mom is leaving today and my mom is now here for a week. We are so grateful to both of them. I also want to send out a big thank you to Apa and to my aunt, uncle, and two cousins, who watched Mateo on consecutive days so I could visit my girls in the hospital. It meant so much to us. Thank you!!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Home safe and sound
Sacha and Natalia came home yesterday, accompanied by Sacha's mom, who had been pulling long days at the hospital and getting up with Mateo in the early mornings. Thanks, Cathe!!
It's so good to have them home and for us all to be together again. Their homecoming launched us immediately back into trying to figure out how to be a four person family, with ups and downs right away. Mateo is quite curious about his new sister and seems to like watching her little movements. Every time she nurses, he wants to nurse, too. It makes quite the picture!
He's also more than a little uncertain about who this new baby is and is having a bit of a rough time making the transition from only child to big brother. He's been whiny, clingy, not sleeping well, that kind of thing. Of course, he's also had some of the sweetest moments with the baby. I guess that's how it's going to go for awhile!
Last night was a crash course in having two kids under age two. Here was our schedule:
8:oo pm: Natalia feeds before we go to bed.
9:00 pm: Mateo decides to get in on the action and wakes up crying for mama's milk before we actually make it to bed.
9:30 pm: Sacha and I fall into a coma.
11:30 pm: Natalia is up to eat again. Keep in mind that her feedings take quite awhile at this point.
1:30 am: Mateo wakes up and wants to nurse. He's been sleeping nearly through the night, but not last night!
3:30 am: Natalia wakes up to eat and then stays up until 5:00 trying to settle down.
5:15 am: Mateo wakes up for the day. Sacha tries to convince him that going back to sleep is a good idea, but no. He is up. I nurse him again. Then, thank God, Cathe gets up with him.
7:30 am: We are up for the day.
All morning, I was hanging on to the idea that I would take a nice long nap when Mateo did. However, he decided to sleep for only 40 minutes, so that plan didn't really work too well.
I know it will be like this for the next couple of months, and I actually don't really mind. I think it might be easier, since we went through this not too long ago and know we'll emerge on the other side. I'm just so glad everyone is here and accounted for!
Here's us from earlier today. It's blurry, but you get the idea:
It's so good to have them home and for us all to be together again. Their homecoming launched us immediately back into trying to figure out how to be a four person family, with ups and downs right away. Mateo is quite curious about his new sister and seems to like watching her little movements. Every time she nurses, he wants to nurse, too. It makes quite the picture!
He's also more than a little uncertain about who this new baby is and is having a bit of a rough time making the transition from only child to big brother. He's been whiny, clingy, not sleeping well, that kind of thing. Of course, he's also had some of the sweetest moments with the baby. I guess that's how it's going to go for awhile!
Last night was a crash course in having two kids under age two. Here was our schedule:
8:oo pm: Natalia feeds before we go to bed.
9:00 pm: Mateo decides to get in on the action and wakes up crying for mama's milk before we actually make it to bed.
9:30 pm: Sacha and I fall into a coma.
11:30 pm: Natalia is up to eat again. Keep in mind that her feedings take quite awhile at this point.
1:30 am: Mateo wakes up and wants to nurse. He's been sleeping nearly through the night, but not last night!
3:30 am: Natalia wakes up to eat and then stays up until 5:00 trying to settle down.
5:15 am: Mateo wakes up for the day. Sacha tries to convince him that going back to sleep is a good idea, but no. He is up. I nurse him again. Then, thank God, Cathe gets up with him.
7:30 am: We are up for the day.
All morning, I was hanging on to the idea that I would take a nice long nap when Mateo did. However, he decided to sleep for only 40 minutes, so that plan didn't really work too well.
I know it will be like this for the next couple of months, and I actually don't really mind. I think it might be easier, since we went through this not too long ago and know we'll emerge on the other side. I'm just so glad everyone is here and accounted for!
Here's us from earlier today. It's blurry, but you get the idea:
Friday, June 27, 2008
Cleared
She's OKAY!!!! No virus of any kind. No one, not even the neonatologist, seems to know what might have caused the sore, but it seems not to be dangerous. I just have to laugh that she was hospitalized for two days over what is probably just a little mouth irritation...but better safe than sorry, for sure.
They'll be home this afternoon!
And, the baby has regained her birthweight in a rather sudden fashion. On Wednesday, at the lactation consultation, she was down 9%. That's quite a turnaround!
Anyway, welcome home to my girls!!
They'll be home this afternoon!
And, the baby has regained her birthweight in a rather sudden fashion. On Wednesday, at the lactation consultation, she was down 9%. That's quite a turnaround!
Anyway, welcome home to my girls!!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Update
Talia is still in the hospital and doing great. They're treating her and waiting for the test results to come back tomorrow. I think if she does end up having something, we will probably take down these posts and password protect others relating to her health, so as to protect her privacy later on. However, we're holding good thoughts that all is actually well. Sacha's getting lots of needed feeding support from the nurses and doing okay.
I visited this morning and am going again tonight. Poor Mateo is kind of a mess. I think this transition has been really tough on him, especially with Mommy being gone, coming home for a day, and then disappearing again. He's been quite needy all day and my tolerance is at a low point, so we're quite the pair. Hopefully test results will come back good and we'll all be together again by the weekend....
Here's a shot of our one day together at home. How cute are those kids?
I visited this morning and am going again tonight. Poor Mateo is kind of a mess. I think this transition has been really tough on him, especially with Mommy being gone, coming home for a day, and then disappearing again. He's been quite needy all day and my tolerance is at a low point, so we're quite the pair. Hopefully test results will come back good and we'll all be together again by the weekend....
Here's a shot of our one day together at home. How cute are those kids?
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Back, back, back
This was a post I wasn't expecting to make, but here goes.
Natalia got admitted back into the hospital this afternoon.
We took her in for a routine mother-baby check-in and lactation consult and the lactation person found an angry-looking sore on the inside of her lip. We hadn't noticed it before and we know it wasn't there when she was born. They're concerned that she may have somehow caught a herpes virus (although it would have been nearly impossible, since Sacha doesn't have it). Apparently, when there's any question about herpes in a newborn, they have to treat it right away, before the culture even comes back.
So, instead of coming home like we thought, Sacha and Talia and Cathe (Sacha's mom) are now back at the hospital in the special care nursery. They'll treat the baby for 48 hours with IV antiviral medicine, until the culture comes back. If it's negative, which we really hope it will be, then they'll come home right away. If it's positive, they'll stay for somewhere around 10 days for the full course of treatment. I don't know what the long term consequences of that would be.
We decided to have me stay home with Mateo instead of trying to leave him with Cathe for the night. He's struggling a little with the transition and we thought it would be much better to have me here with him. I know it was the right decision, but I miss my girls and am sad for this interruption of our first week together. I just hope something else is causing the irritation in her mouth and that they'll be home soon.
Natalia got admitted back into the hospital this afternoon.
We took her in for a routine mother-baby check-in and lactation consult and the lactation person found an angry-looking sore on the inside of her lip. We hadn't noticed it before and we know it wasn't there when she was born. They're concerned that she may have somehow caught a herpes virus (although it would have been nearly impossible, since Sacha doesn't have it). Apparently, when there's any question about herpes in a newborn, they have to treat it right away, before the culture even comes back.
So, instead of coming home like we thought, Sacha and Talia and Cathe (Sacha's mom) are now back at the hospital in the special care nursery. They'll treat the baby for 48 hours with IV antiviral medicine, until the culture comes back. If it's negative, which we really hope it will be, then they'll come home right away. If it's positive, they'll stay for somewhere around 10 days for the full course of treatment. I don't know what the long term consequences of that would be.
We decided to have me stay home with Mateo instead of trying to leave him with Cathe for the night. He's struggling a little with the transition and we thought it would be much better to have me here with him. I know it was the right decision, but I miss my girls and am sad for this interruption of our first week together. I just hope something else is causing the irritation in her mouth and that they'll be home soon.
Natalia's birth
Since I have all this time on my hands tonight, I thought I'd write out Natalia's birth story from my perspective.
After another day of no labor activity, we left for the hospital around 8:30 pm Saturday night. By 11, Sacha was admitted and checked out and monitored and they had inserted a small tablet of misoprostole next to her cervix. The idea was that it would ripen things up and then they'd start the pitocin the next morning. For some people, that alone is enough to send them into active labor, and Sacha ended up hitting the jackpot.
By 1 am, contractions woke her up (and me shortly thereafter!). By 2:30 am, it was clear that she was going to skip early labor and jump right into the hard work part. We called Rachael to come to the hospital and got down to work. The Bradley classes came in sooo handy over and over again. Sacha had practiced the techniques enough to be able to really use them in many different positions, while I had also practiced my part enough to recognize what might be helpful and try to help her do it.
Sacha labored like a rock star throughout the night and eventually the sun came up. Her contractions were coming strong and steady and usually 2-3 minutes apart. Around 9 am, she started feeling like she had to push. Rachael and I exchanged a look that I took to mean maybe she's almost complete! That turned out to be wishful thinking, but she had made a lot of progress to 5 cm. The way things were progressing, it seemed that our baby might be here by mid-afternoon.
Sacha worked and worked and worked. She was the very model of a laboring woman. She was amazing. Around 1 pm, the midwife came in and checked her - she was 6-7 cm and the baby was still pretty high up. Try to bring the baby down, the midwife suggested. Undaunted, Sacha went out and we walked the halls. We tried different positions. She labored and labored.
I forgot to mention that her waters had broken on their own at 5 am. By mid-morning, some light green discharge was coming out. By early afternoon, it was getting darker green and sludgier. The midwife and nurses seemed unconcerned, as meconium is very common in babies that far past their due dates. However, they were starting to act concerned about her heart rate, which wasn't fluctuating as much as they wanted to see. First, they weren't seeing the accelerations that indicate the baby is doing well. Then, they weren't seeing much variability in the heart rate at all. They stopped monitoring once an hour and hooked Sacha up to the mobile telemetry monitors that would keep tabs on the baby all the time. They started to talk more about being concerned, but seemed confident that the baby was fine and wanted to give Sacha as much time as she needed.
Sacha labored and labored. She had to spend more and more time on the bed, as the nurses and midwife tried to get a handle on how the baby was doing. This was one of the worst positions for her and she still worked through the contractions like she was born to do it.
I'm not sure how much Sacha noticed, but things were slowly getting a little more tense among the medical staff. At one point, the baby had a deceleration that was slow to come up again and pretty soon Sacha had an oxygen mask on and the nurse urgently calling for backup. Then the baby stabilized and things continued on as they had been.
We were both really impressed at how the midwife and nurses handled the whole situation. They had the baby's health as their first priority, but seemed committed to managing risks without overreacting.
At 4 pm, Sacha got checked again. Progress had stalled at 6-7 cm and her cervix was swelling. Baby seemed to be either posterior or in a position with her head cocked slightly. Sacha was exhausted. Baby had been cooking in meconium for at least 7 hours and it was continuing to leak in dark gushes from her uterus. The midwife offered the option of continuing on as we had been and hoping that the baby would turn and descend, but also said she thought that perhaps the contractions weren't strong enough to be productive and a boost of pitocin might help.
Sacha took some time to think this over and decided that she had hit her limit. She wanted the pitocin and an epidural along with it. This turned out to be the best decision she ever made. The anesthetist showed up right away and within half an hour, she was feeling relief. She finally got a nap (after an hour and a half of sleep the night before) and the pitocin started her uterus dilating again. Pretty soon, she was 8 cm and the baby had turned. It looked like she would be able to rest for a few more hours and then she would start pushing. She was even starting to feel pressure, so it appeared that the baby was moving down. The midwife, now acting more concerned about the meconium and the continued flatness of the baby's heartrate, suggested doing an infusion of fluid into Sacha's uterus to give the baby some relief. We agreed to this and it was started.
I went out for a short walk to get some air and got back about 6:45. Rachael and I chatted and then rested while Sacha napped. It seemed like it could be hours before anything happened.
Then, at 7:00, everything changed. After the midwife we had been working with went off duty, instead of transferring us to a new midwife, care was abruptly transferred to the OB on call. He, a rather brusque man with a thick Russian accent, looked over the past several hours of heart rate strips and saw a baby in distress. He was clearly upset at the midwife for allowing this to continue.
He rushed into our room with the nurse in tow, woke Sacha up from a deep sleep, and told her that "the baby is not happy." He kept repeating that over and over. She is not happy and she needs to come out now. Sacha had an oxygen mask on and couldn't understand him over the hiss of the oxygen and his thick accent.
I had been watching the strips since I got back and remembered how the nurses said that if the line was really flat, then it was a cause for real concern. The lines were really flat. The heart rate was hovering around 150 beats a minute and not budging. The baby hadn't moved in hours.
He told her that she would have 15 minutes to push the baby out or they would be doing an immediate emergency c-section. He would help her with forceps.
Once Sacha got the message, we all had a few minutes of panic but she quickly got down to business. They broke down the bed and the room filled with people. The nurse explained that, if the baby didn't cry right away when she came out, they would purposefully not stimulate her to breathe so that she wouldn't inhale the meconium into her lungs. Instead, they would quickly cut the cord and hand her off to the nursery team standing by, who would suction her out before she could take her first breath. They told us that it would look a lot more dramatic than it was and that the baby would be fine.
The doctor got set up and Sacha started pushing. On the other end, the doctor pulled for all he was worth. We literally thanked God that she had gotten that epidural, because there wouldn't have been time for any pain management before the action started. Even with the epidural, she felt like she was being ripped in two.
Knowing that our baby needed to come out now, Sacha pushed like a woman possessed.
She got our daughter out in three minutes. It was the most incredible feat of strength I have ever seen.
First push brought the baby down. Second push delivered the head. And the third push brought the rest of the body out. It was like watching a video of the pushing stage in fast forward. Natalia was born!
Despite the reassuring explanations from before, the first minutes after Natalia's birth were overwhelming and terrifying. She came out with the cord wrapped twice around her neck. She was moving her hands a little bit, but that was about it. The surgeon cut the cord and passed her immediately to the nursery team at the warming table. I went with her. They suctioned her nose and mouth and put a tube down her throat to clean out her airway.
As they pulled out green and brown glop from everywhere, I just stood there sobbing. I knew they had said she would be okay, but it was really scary. Seeing all the people working on her, the tube down her throat, and then them manually bagging her while saying things like "her heart rate is dropping" just totally undid me. I kept trying to tell Sacha she was going to be fine, but I was crying so hard that I probably wasn't very convincing. I still get choked up when I tell people about it.
Then, just like that, things started to improve. She took a few breaths and made a couple of tiny cries. She started to pink up. They stopped working on her so urgently and started wiping the meconium off and cleaning all the vernix off her back. Vernix, people! She had vernix, and a lot of it, at 42 weeks gestation.
Pretty soon, she was cleaned up and wrapped up and they brought her to Sacha to hold for the first time. And suddenly we were having the moment we thought we would have, where we met our daughter for the first time! She did so well that they let her come right with us to the post-partum room and she's never looked back since.
Stats: She was 7 lbs, 2 oz and 20.5 inches long, with a 13.5 inch head circumference. She was/is a peanut! Everything about her just screams full-term baby, not baby who was two weeks overdue. Obviously, our dates are indisputable, but it seems like she just needed a little longer to cook in there.
We love her to pieces. Here are some photos of her and us:
Sacha meeting baby Talia:
The three of us:
Me holding her for the first time:
Just chillin':
Mateo meeting, and petting, his baby sister for the first time:
Cuddling after practicing nursing:
Supplementing with a little of my pumped breastmilk (she's working hard to learn to nurse, but needed some supplementation her second day because she still hadn't had a wet diaper):
Snoozing with Bubby:
Homeward bound!:
After another day of no labor activity, we left for the hospital around 8:30 pm Saturday night. By 11, Sacha was admitted and checked out and monitored and they had inserted a small tablet of misoprostole next to her cervix. The idea was that it would ripen things up and then they'd start the pitocin the next morning. For some people, that alone is enough to send them into active labor, and Sacha ended up hitting the jackpot.
By 1 am, contractions woke her up (and me shortly thereafter!). By 2:30 am, it was clear that she was going to skip early labor and jump right into the hard work part. We called Rachael to come to the hospital and got down to work. The Bradley classes came in sooo handy over and over again. Sacha had practiced the techniques enough to be able to really use them in many different positions, while I had also practiced my part enough to recognize what might be helpful and try to help her do it.
Sacha labored like a rock star throughout the night and eventually the sun came up. Her contractions were coming strong and steady and usually 2-3 minutes apart. Around 9 am, she started feeling like she had to push. Rachael and I exchanged a look that I took to mean maybe she's almost complete! That turned out to be wishful thinking, but she had made a lot of progress to 5 cm. The way things were progressing, it seemed that our baby might be here by mid-afternoon.
Sacha worked and worked and worked. She was the very model of a laboring woman. She was amazing. Around 1 pm, the midwife came in and checked her - she was 6-7 cm and the baby was still pretty high up. Try to bring the baby down, the midwife suggested. Undaunted, Sacha went out and we walked the halls. We tried different positions. She labored and labored.
I forgot to mention that her waters had broken on their own at 5 am. By mid-morning, some light green discharge was coming out. By early afternoon, it was getting darker green and sludgier. The midwife and nurses seemed unconcerned, as meconium is very common in babies that far past their due dates. However, they were starting to act concerned about her heart rate, which wasn't fluctuating as much as they wanted to see. First, they weren't seeing the accelerations that indicate the baby is doing well. Then, they weren't seeing much variability in the heart rate at all. They stopped monitoring once an hour and hooked Sacha up to the mobile telemetry monitors that would keep tabs on the baby all the time. They started to talk more about being concerned, but seemed confident that the baby was fine and wanted to give Sacha as much time as she needed.
Sacha labored and labored. She had to spend more and more time on the bed, as the nurses and midwife tried to get a handle on how the baby was doing. This was one of the worst positions for her and she still worked through the contractions like she was born to do it.
I'm not sure how much Sacha noticed, but things were slowly getting a little more tense among the medical staff. At one point, the baby had a deceleration that was slow to come up again and pretty soon Sacha had an oxygen mask on and the nurse urgently calling for backup. Then the baby stabilized and things continued on as they had been.
We were both really impressed at how the midwife and nurses handled the whole situation. They had the baby's health as their first priority, but seemed committed to managing risks without overreacting.
At 4 pm, Sacha got checked again. Progress had stalled at 6-7 cm and her cervix was swelling. Baby seemed to be either posterior or in a position with her head cocked slightly. Sacha was exhausted. Baby had been cooking in meconium for at least 7 hours and it was continuing to leak in dark gushes from her uterus. The midwife offered the option of continuing on as we had been and hoping that the baby would turn and descend, but also said she thought that perhaps the contractions weren't strong enough to be productive and a boost of pitocin might help.
Sacha took some time to think this over and decided that she had hit her limit. She wanted the pitocin and an epidural along with it. This turned out to be the best decision she ever made. The anesthetist showed up right away and within half an hour, she was feeling relief. She finally got a nap (after an hour and a half of sleep the night before) and the pitocin started her uterus dilating again. Pretty soon, she was 8 cm and the baby had turned. It looked like she would be able to rest for a few more hours and then she would start pushing. She was even starting to feel pressure, so it appeared that the baby was moving down. The midwife, now acting more concerned about the meconium and the continued flatness of the baby's heartrate, suggested doing an infusion of fluid into Sacha's uterus to give the baby some relief. We agreed to this and it was started.
I went out for a short walk to get some air and got back about 6:45. Rachael and I chatted and then rested while Sacha napped. It seemed like it could be hours before anything happened.
Then, at 7:00, everything changed. After the midwife we had been working with went off duty, instead of transferring us to a new midwife, care was abruptly transferred to the OB on call. He, a rather brusque man with a thick Russian accent, looked over the past several hours of heart rate strips and saw a baby in distress. He was clearly upset at the midwife for allowing this to continue.
He rushed into our room with the nurse in tow, woke Sacha up from a deep sleep, and told her that "the baby is not happy." He kept repeating that over and over. She is not happy and she needs to come out now. Sacha had an oxygen mask on and couldn't understand him over the hiss of the oxygen and his thick accent.
I had been watching the strips since I got back and remembered how the nurses said that if the line was really flat, then it was a cause for real concern. The lines were really flat. The heart rate was hovering around 150 beats a minute and not budging. The baby hadn't moved in hours.
He told her that she would have 15 minutes to push the baby out or they would be doing an immediate emergency c-section. He would help her with forceps.
Once Sacha got the message, we all had a few minutes of panic but she quickly got down to business. They broke down the bed and the room filled with people. The nurse explained that, if the baby didn't cry right away when she came out, they would purposefully not stimulate her to breathe so that she wouldn't inhale the meconium into her lungs. Instead, they would quickly cut the cord and hand her off to the nursery team standing by, who would suction her out before she could take her first breath. They told us that it would look a lot more dramatic than it was and that the baby would be fine.
The doctor got set up and Sacha started pushing. On the other end, the doctor pulled for all he was worth. We literally thanked God that she had gotten that epidural, because there wouldn't have been time for any pain management before the action started. Even with the epidural, she felt like she was being ripped in two.
Knowing that our baby needed to come out now, Sacha pushed like a woman possessed.
She got our daughter out in three minutes. It was the most incredible feat of strength I have ever seen.
First push brought the baby down. Second push delivered the head. And the third push brought the rest of the body out. It was like watching a video of the pushing stage in fast forward. Natalia was born!
Despite the reassuring explanations from before, the first minutes after Natalia's birth were overwhelming and terrifying. She came out with the cord wrapped twice around her neck. She was moving her hands a little bit, but that was about it. The surgeon cut the cord and passed her immediately to the nursery team at the warming table. I went with her. They suctioned her nose and mouth and put a tube down her throat to clean out her airway.
As they pulled out green and brown glop from everywhere, I just stood there sobbing. I knew they had said she would be okay, but it was really scary. Seeing all the people working on her, the tube down her throat, and then them manually bagging her while saying things like "her heart rate is dropping" just totally undid me. I kept trying to tell Sacha she was going to be fine, but I was crying so hard that I probably wasn't very convincing. I still get choked up when I tell people about it.
Then, just like that, things started to improve. She took a few breaths and made a couple of tiny cries. She started to pink up. They stopped working on her so urgently and started wiping the meconium off and cleaning all the vernix off her back. Vernix, people! She had vernix, and a lot of it, at 42 weeks gestation.
Pretty soon, she was cleaned up and wrapped up and they brought her to Sacha to hold for the first time. And suddenly we were having the moment we thought we would have, where we met our daughter for the first time! She did so well that they let her come right with us to the post-partum room and she's never looked back since.
Stats: She was 7 lbs, 2 oz and 20.5 inches long, with a 13.5 inch head circumference. She was/is a peanut! Everything about her just screams full-term baby, not baby who was two weeks overdue. Obviously, our dates are indisputable, but it seems like she just needed a little longer to cook in there.
We love her to pieces. Here are some photos of her and us:
Sacha meeting baby Talia:
The three of us:
Me holding her for the first time:
Just chillin':
Mateo meeting, and petting, his baby sister for the first time:
Cuddling after practicing nursing:
Supplementing with a little of my pumped breastmilk (she's working hard to learn to nurse, but needed some supplementation her second day because she still hadn't had a wet diaper):
Snoozing with Bubby:
Homeward bound!:
Monday, June 23, 2008
She's here!
She's here! Born last night at 7:17 pm, 7 lbs, 2 ounces. Her name is Natalia Elizabeth. I just wrote out the whole birth story and then blogger lost it. Will do it again later. All is well and we'll be home soon!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
41 weeks, 6 days
Unless something dramatic happens later today, we'll be heading to the hospital around 8:30pm. My mom's set to come over around dinner time so she'll be here when Mateo goes to bed (and when he gets up at night, which hopefully will go smoothly). Sacha's parents are in town and just cooked Sacha and Mateo breakfast while giving me some time to myself at home. We all had a lovely pizza dinner last night and Sacha actually did have contractions in the night again, but they went away when she got up.
In a bizarre twist of, well, something, I am just barely avoiding losing my voice. I don't know if it's the cold I just fought off or that my throat got way too irritated from our window A/C unit the other night, but I sound like a frog. Or worse. I told Sacha that I may just be the quietest labor coach in history. I'm drinking tea and plowing through a bag of lozenges and hoping to recover my vocal cords by tonight! I tell you, the number of illnesses or near-misses we've had in the past few weeks, after being mostly healthy throughout Sacha's pregnancy, is just mind-boggling.
Anyway, we'll post as soon as we have news, although there's no internet at the hospital, so it might be a little while. The car's packed, except for some last minute things, and I'm realizing these are really our last moments as a family of three. The fact that we're probably looking at an induction tomorrow, after all our attempts to avoid one, is pretty surreal. Here's hoping for a healthy baby and healthy mommy, a smooth labor and delivery experience, and a great start to our girl's life!
In a bizarre twist of, well, something, I am just barely avoiding losing my voice. I don't know if it's the cold I just fought off or that my throat got way too irritated from our window A/C unit the other night, but I sound like a frog. Or worse. I told Sacha that I may just be the quietest labor coach in history. I'm drinking tea and plowing through a bag of lozenges and hoping to recover my vocal cords by tonight! I tell you, the number of illnesses or near-misses we've had in the past few weeks, after being mostly healthy throughout Sacha's pregnancy, is just mind-boggling.
Anyway, we'll post as soon as we have news, although there's no internet at the hospital, so it might be a little while. The car's packed, except for some last minute things, and I'm realizing these are really our last moments as a family of three. The fact that we're probably looking at an induction tomorrow, after all our attempts to avoid one, is pretty surreal. Here's hoping for a healthy baby and healthy mommy, a smooth labor and delivery experience, and a great start to our girl's life!
Friday, June 20, 2008
41 weeks, 5 days
Here we are at Friday, with the baby still in the belly. Sacha just said "tick tock, tick tock goes the clock" and I think that just about sums up how we are feeling.
After having some strong contractions that woke her up last night but went away this morning, there has been nothing on the labor front. This kid is just ridiculously happy in there! I think she might challenge my record of being born 17 days late (sorry, Mom!) if we let her...but thankfully for all of us, that won't be happening.
So, we are barreling towards checking into the hospital tomorrow night and induction on Sunday. We're both hoping that, #1, she will still go into labor on her own, and, #2, that the prostaglandin gel they'll administer on Saturday night will kick her into labor and she won't have to go the pitocin route.
Thanks for all your good thoughts! Sacha and I (and Mateo and baby #2) really appreciate all the love being sent this way.
After having some strong contractions that woke her up last night but went away this morning, there has been nothing on the labor front. This kid is just ridiculously happy in there! I think she might challenge my record of being born 17 days late (sorry, Mom!) if we let her...but thankfully for all of us, that won't be happening.
So, we are barreling towards checking into the hospital tomorrow night and induction on Sunday. We're both hoping that, #1, she will still go into labor on her own, and, #2, that the prostaglandin gel they'll administer on Saturday night will kick her into labor and she won't have to go the pitocin route.
Thanks for all your good thoughts! Sacha and I (and Mateo and baby #2) really appreciate all the love being sent this way.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Letting everything just be
So, after trying five treatments of acupuncture, two chiropractic treatments, black and black cohash drops, two attempts at stripping membranes, talking to the baby, sex, spicy curry, pumping hourly and some other methods of inducing labor, I'm just going to try and let things be. It appears that our daughter has her own ideas and will just come when she is ready, or I'll be induced on Saturday night at 9pm.
So, I am just going to try and relax. I got pregnant when I was feeling really low-key and maybe that is how things need to end as well. Just let everything be. I'm letting go and am going to assume that I will just go the hospital on Saturday.
I'm enjoying being with Alayna on her 30th birthday, the surprise birthday party that I planned for her (with much help from friends and family) and having my parents coming into town as well. Oh, and I'm going to study for the crazy Spanish exam that I need to take in Eugene, OR on July 26th at 7 in the morning, totally sleep deprived! LOL. Thankfully, I don't actually have to pass the test, just take it!
So, I am just going to try and relax. I got pregnant when I was feeling really low-key and maybe that is how things need to end as well. Just let everything be. I'm letting go and am going to assume that I will just go the hospital on Saturday.
I'm enjoying being with Alayna on her 30th birthday, the surprise birthday party that I planned for her (with much help from friends and family) and having my parents coming into town as well. Oh, and I'm going to study for the crazy Spanish exam that I need to take in Eugene, OR on July 26th at 7 in the morning, totally sleep deprived! LOL. Thankfully, I don't actually have to pass the test, just take it!
41 weeks, 4 days: In which our heroine has another non-stress test...
News from the non-stress test: everything looks great. Baby looks great. Fluid looks great. All is well. The NP attempted to strip Sacha's membranes, but she's holding steady at a fingertip dilated and the woman just could not manage to do it. She did mention that Sacha's now 75% effaced, so progress is happening at its own pace.
Sacha's continuing to pump and has started taking black and blue cohosh (or is it blue and black?), so we'll see what happens from here on out. The nurse practitioner said, unhelpfully, "you're running out of time here," like we have any control over this in the first place!
We both agree that we're going to give this a good shot until this weekend, and then if nothing has happened by Saturday at 9 pm, we'll go to the hospital to check in and start an induction the next day, which will be 42 weeks exactly. (As an aside, they wanted to start the hospital check-in at midnight for insurance purposes, but we did that with M's birth and it wrecked us for the next day. By the time they got us all settled and monitored and such, it was like 3 am, and then they started the induction at 7 am. Since Sacha's care is 100% covered, we don't have to worry about billing another hospital day and so she talked them into letting us come in at 9 pm instead. Hopefully we won't need to, though!) Anyway, we're not comfortable going beyond 42 weeks, but we also want to give the baby a chance to come before then on her own if she's ready. I just keep thinking that each day that passes makes it that much more likely that Sacha will go into labor.
Sacha had a tough day yesterday. She felt really down and discouraged and spent part of the morning in tears. Eventually, after some talking and writing and a trip in the sunshine to the farmer's market, she started feeling better. Today's been better emotionally, I think. She is just doing such an amazing job. Seriously, she is upbeat and optimistic almost all the time, even though she's uncomfortable and ready for the baby to be here already! I would be a mess. I know this because I was a mess last time (and I went to 41 weeks exactly)! I am so impressed with her determination and patience and by what a great job she's doing growing our daughter.
In other news, it is a gorgeous day here and I'm so happy I got sunshine for my birthday! Even growing up in California, it was often gray and gloomy in the mornings in the summer. It was great to wake up to sunshine right from the get-go. My mom watched M after we finished with the doctor so we could go out to breakfast and that was lovely. He literally screeched with excitement when he saw her car pull up!
Finally, we want to send big congrats to our friends at we are fambly on the birth of their daughter yesterday! Congratulations, guys!
Sacha's continuing to pump and has started taking black and blue cohosh (or is it blue and black?), so we'll see what happens from here on out. The nurse practitioner said, unhelpfully, "you're running out of time here," like we have any control over this in the first place!
We both agree that we're going to give this a good shot until this weekend, and then if nothing has happened by Saturday at 9 pm, we'll go to the hospital to check in and start an induction the next day, which will be 42 weeks exactly. (As an aside, they wanted to start the hospital check-in at midnight for insurance purposes, but we did that with M's birth and it wrecked us for the next day. By the time they got us all settled and monitored and such, it was like 3 am, and then they started the induction at 7 am. Since Sacha's care is 100% covered, we don't have to worry about billing another hospital day and so she talked them into letting us come in at 9 pm instead. Hopefully we won't need to, though!) Anyway, we're not comfortable going beyond 42 weeks, but we also want to give the baby a chance to come before then on her own if she's ready. I just keep thinking that each day that passes makes it that much more likely that Sacha will go into labor.
Sacha had a tough day yesterday. She felt really down and discouraged and spent part of the morning in tears. Eventually, after some talking and writing and a trip in the sunshine to the farmer's market, she started feeling better. Today's been better emotionally, I think. She is just doing such an amazing job. Seriously, she is upbeat and optimistic almost all the time, even though she's uncomfortable and ready for the baby to be here already! I would be a mess. I know this because I was a mess last time (and I went to 41 weeks exactly)! I am so impressed with her determination and patience and by what a great job she's doing growing our daughter.
In other news, it is a gorgeous day here and I'm so happy I got sunshine for my birthday! Even growing up in California, it was often gray and gloomy in the mornings in the summer. It was great to wake up to sunshine right from the get-go. My mom watched M after we finished with the doctor so we could go out to breakfast and that was lovely. He literally screeched with excitement when he saw her car pull up!
Finally, we want to send big congrats to our friends at we are fambly on the birth of their daughter yesterday! Congratulations, guys!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
List finally complete!
We got our second screen/storm door installed today! I looooove it! I had a total brain freeze when the installation person showed up, because I had been so convinced that the baby would be here by the time the door finally showed up. But, it is the 18th and our door is in and now our pre-labor list is finally complete! Perhaps this is what the baby was waiting for?
Sacha had some strong contractions last night that let up when we went to bed, and now is having some moderate ones following her acupuncture appointments. We have another non-stress test tomorrow morning and are hoping to have the NP strip her membranes if she can. Will the baby come on my birthday? Stay tuned for the next installment of our saga...
Sacha had some strong contractions last night that let up when we went to bed, and now is having some moderate ones following her acupuncture appointments. We have another non-stress test tomorrow morning and are hoping to have the NP strip her membranes if she can. Will the baby come on my birthday? Stay tuned for the next installment of our saga...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
41 weeks, 2 days
Ok, I am going nuts with the waiting. I'm sure I'll be over it in a few hours, but I am going crazy and I'm not even the pregnant one! Luckily, Sacha is in a fairly zen mood, so we balance each other out.
She had an appointment this morning and we found out that her cervix is about 1 cm dilated, so that's something! Baby is looking good. She's actually been very active today. And so we continue on.
Sacha just looked at this post from some person's blog that indicates that taking fish oil can cause a longer gestation. She has been religiously taking fish oil for months...so maybe she will stop for a few days just to see what happens.
Also, she has broken out the breast pump and is planning on eating a spicy dinner tonight. Very spicy. I know we just need to wait and it will happen when it happens, but it's nice to feel like we're at least doing something.
A big thank you again to my mom, who not only watched Mateo while we were at the doctor's appointment (he's getting very good at saying "Mommy doctor's appointment!") but also folded all our laundry, bought us bagels, went to the store, and then took us out to lunch. We love you!
She had an appointment this morning and we found out that her cervix is about 1 cm dilated, so that's something! Baby is looking good. She's actually been very active today. And so we continue on.
Sacha just looked at this post from some person's blog that indicates that taking fish oil can cause a longer gestation. She has been religiously taking fish oil for months...so maybe she will stop for a few days just to see what happens.
Also, she has broken out the breast pump and is planning on eating a spicy dinner tonight. Very spicy. I know we just need to wait and it will happen when it happens, but it's nice to feel like we're at least doing something.
A big thank you again to my mom, who not only watched Mateo while we were at the doctor's appointment (he's getting very good at saying "Mommy doctor's appointment!") but also folded all our laundry, bought us bagels, went to the store, and then took us out to lunch. We love you!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Non- stress test
The test went just fine, but who ever thought of calling a test a non-stress test? And who exactly is the non-stress test not supposed to be stressful for? We went in today for the 41 weeks and 1 day test. (They originally wanted the test on 41 weeks, but that would be a Sunday.) They were going to see how the baby's heart beat is doing, and a bio-physical profile. . .
So, the technician started by looking at the fluid level and I totally freaked out, because I couldn't see the heart beat. Neither Alayna nor the tech had any problem seeing the heart beat, but I didn't see it at first, and I was already a bit anxious, and that just was too much for me. But, then, we saw it, although our little girl seemed to be asleep.
I know, I know, she seems to be a night owl. She likes to sleep in the mornings and does her dancing around 9pm, every single night. None the less, I (and Alayna and the tech) wanted to see her moving. The tech gave me two bottles of cold cranberry juice, which I downed, and then put me on the non-stress test for a 20 minute heart beat, contraction check.
She passed with flying colors and did start jumping around after I drank the juice. No contractions, but with this cold that I am getting over, that is probably good.
Cheri came up last night (and that does have us all feeling much less stressed), and she played Mateo while we went to the test. Thank you a million times!
On the Mateo front, his new thing is that he can say the alphabet. Go little one! He just never fails to amaze me.
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Here are some pictures from 41 weeks:
Mateo falling asleep after a nice bath.
Barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen! (Who could resist roasting some lovely roots!)
Enjoying the weather with Alayna and then with Cheri.
So, the technician started by looking at the fluid level and I totally freaked out, because I couldn't see the heart beat. Neither Alayna nor the tech had any problem seeing the heart beat, but I didn't see it at first, and I was already a bit anxious, and that just was too much for me. But, then, we saw it, although our little girl seemed to be asleep.
I know, I know, she seems to be a night owl. She likes to sleep in the mornings and does her dancing around 9pm, every single night. None the less, I (and Alayna and the tech) wanted to see her moving. The tech gave me two bottles of cold cranberry juice, which I downed, and then put me on the non-stress test for a 20 minute heart beat, contraction check.
She passed with flying colors and did start jumping around after I drank the juice. No contractions, but with this cold that I am getting over, that is probably good.
Cheri came up last night (and that does have us all feeling much less stressed), and she played Mateo while we went to the test. Thank you a million times!
On the Mateo front, his new thing is that he can say the alphabet. Go little one! He just never fails to amaze me.
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Here are some pictures from 41 weeks:
Mateo falling asleep after a nice bath.
Barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen! (Who could resist roasting some lovely roots!)
Enjoying the weather with Alayna and then with Cheri.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Nothin' to see here
41 weeks is here and our baby still happily hanging out in Mommy's belly. We had a good night of sleep last night and were planning on hitting the Pride parade this morning, but M woke up at 5 am and crashed out for a nap by 10:30. So, we're just hanging out at home and enjoying the beautiful sunshine outside.
If the kiddo is still inside by tomorrow, we'll go in for a non-stress test and biophysical profile. By this point, it's looking slightly more possible that the baby and I will have similar birthdays, if not the same one, as I'll turn 30 on Thursday. 30! I guess we'll see what happens...
Also, we want to send out a big Happy Father's Day to all the dads in our lives!
If the kiddo is still inside by tomorrow, we'll go in for a non-stress test and biophysical profile. By this point, it's looking slightly more possible that the baby and I will have similar birthdays, if not the same one, as I'll turn 30 on Thursday. 30! I guess we'll see what happens...
Also, we want to send out a big Happy Father's Day to all the dads in our lives!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Update from 40 weeks, 6 days
We had quite the eventful day. I started out by virtually not sleeping last night . . . which isn't really what I need for getting over this cold. I tried listening to a hypnobirthing CD that I have. (We actually listen to it most nights going to sleep, and it is a rare day that Alayna and I stay up past the first five minutes of the CD!)
Then, I ended up on the couch, because Alayna was sleeping so peacefully, but I was a jumping bean from all of my restless legs. Our cat Lucy, though, thought my feet were just the perfect thing to attack. They moved all over the place, just like a mouse? She couldn't resist, and I don't think that improved things.
Around midnight, I decided to try going back to bed (still not asleep) and listened to another guided sleep meditation that I have, after some stretching. I decided if I didn't fall asleep after that 30 minute meditation, I was going to take a bath.
I did fall asleep, and 30 minutes later, Mateo woke up! Ahhhh. Finally, I slept well from 1am till 3am, and then got another nice bit of sleep in the morning because Alayna took him to the park at 6:15am.
At 9:30am, I went to get some acupuncture. I had been getting induction acupuncture, but with my cold, asked for immune support today. Well, I started having menstrual like cramps immediately after she put some needles in! They were not bad, but they lasted on and off for about five hours, and were coming about every 3-5 minutes, but sometimes faster. Mostly, they were lasting around 30 seconds.
Following the Bradley method's advice for figuring out if you're in real labor, over the next few hours I took a walk, had something to drink, had some food and took a nap. I forgot about the taking a shower or bath thing. On my second nap, they went away, so no labor yet, but my body does appear to be gearing up!
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While I was taking my second nap of the day, our wonderful and amazing friends Katie and Ashlee came over to hang out and help in the yard. They did the most amazing job ever and we are so grateful! Here are some after pictures of our back yard. They are just so great with Mateo and it was wonderful to catch up with them.
Then, I ended up on the couch, because Alayna was sleeping so peacefully, but I was a jumping bean from all of my restless legs. Our cat Lucy, though, thought my feet were just the perfect thing to attack. They moved all over the place, just like a mouse? She couldn't resist, and I don't think that improved things.
Around midnight, I decided to try going back to bed (still not asleep) and listened to another guided sleep meditation that I have, after some stretching. I decided if I didn't fall asleep after that 30 minute meditation, I was going to take a bath.
I did fall asleep, and 30 minutes later, Mateo woke up! Ahhhh. Finally, I slept well from 1am till 3am, and then got another nice bit of sleep in the morning because Alayna took him to the park at 6:15am.
At 9:30am, I went to get some acupuncture. I had been getting induction acupuncture, but with my cold, asked for immune support today. Well, I started having menstrual like cramps immediately after she put some needles in! They were not bad, but they lasted on and off for about five hours, and were coming about every 3-5 minutes, but sometimes faster. Mostly, they were lasting around 30 seconds.
Following the Bradley method's advice for figuring out if you're in real labor, over the next few hours I took a walk, had something to drink, had some food and took a nap. I forgot about the taking a shower or bath thing. On my second nap, they went away, so no labor yet, but my body does appear to be gearing up!
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Thank you Katie and Ashlee!
While I was taking my second nap of the day, our wonderful and amazing friends Katie and Ashlee came over to hang out and help in the yard. They did the most amazing job ever and we are so grateful! Here are some after pictures of our back yard. They are just so great with Mateo and it was wonderful to catch up with them.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wash, wash, baby (but no baby yet)
We got our new washer today! After a rather drawn out waiting period, it finally arrived at the factory and then made it onto the delivery truck today. The delivery guys seemed mystified by how to turn off the water in our house, and suggested that they just leave the washer and we should call a plumber and have them install it, but after I turned off the water for them, they did manage to get it hooked up. I get that they weren't plumbers, but how hard is it to just turn off the main water connection?
Anyway, it is here and it is gorgeous. We're going to run our first load tomorrow! Thanks again to everyone who made it possible :)
Also, in Sacha news, she has managed to come down with a cold. Can you believe that?? She says it's not surprising, because she's never in her life finished teaching a school year without getting sick...but I think it's just colossally unfair. A cold at almost 41 weeks pregnant. SO not fair. She's been resting and taking vitamins and hoping that it will go away soon. Ideally, that would be before the baby comes.
We feel like we've been sending poor #2 mixed messages. Come now! No, wait. Mama's sick. Ok, come now! No, wait. Mommy's sick. Hopefully we can get more consistent once Sacha gets better.
On that note, we're going to bed. Happy Friday the 13th!
Anyway, it is here and it is gorgeous. We're going to run our first load tomorrow! Thanks again to everyone who made it possible :)
Also, in Sacha news, she has managed to come down with a cold. Can you believe that?? She says it's not surprising, because she's never in her life finished teaching a school year without getting sick...but I think it's just colossally unfair. A cold at almost 41 weeks pregnant. SO not fair. She's been resting and taking vitamins and hoping that it will go away soon. Ideally, that would be before the baby comes.
We feel like we've been sending poor #2 mixed messages. Come now! No, wait. Mama's sick. Ok, come now! No, wait. Mommy's sick. Hopefully we can get more consistent once Sacha gets better.
On that note, we're going to bed. Happy Friday the 13th!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
40 weeks, 4 days
For all you looking for an update: the baby is still in the belly! Now, back to our regularly scheduled blogging...
Sacha finished up school yesterday and officially started summer/maternity leave today! She was going to have to work today too, but she worked a longer day yesterday and then conveniently had a contraction in the office, which prompted the secretary to tell her to just go home already. And so she did.
We've had a lovely week and actually (this is much easier for me to say since I'm not massively pregnant) it's been nice to have a few extra days before our family grows by one member. The three of us have been having a great time together. These feel like special bonus days. Actually, they kind of feel like when I was overdue with Mateo and we got do all sorts of extra stuff we didn't think we'd have time for.
On Tuesday, our friends Emily and Eric watched Mateo so we could go out to dinner. Interestingly, and totally without planning it this way, we went out to the same restaurant at the exact same time in my pregnancy. 40 weeks and 2 days. Somehow it just happened that it was the same day. Crazy. We had a lovely time together. In a reverse of last time, I got to have a drink and Sacha abstained. And, of course we both enjoyed the delicious food.
Today, to celebrate Sacha's first day off, we went strawberry picking! (Actually, first, Sacha had a chiropractic appointment and then she went to acupuncture to try to help encourage labor to start sometime soon. While she was gone at the chiropractor, Mateo decided I was just waiting too long to try to put him down for his nap, so he opted to fall asleep on my shoulder while I was on the phone!)
Anyway, we got our acts together this afternoon and went berry picking. We've been trying to think of activities for the days so that we won't go crazy with the waiting and this was our first outing. We had SO much fun. The sun finally came out and it was warm and beautiful and we were all happy. Mateo just went wild for the strawberries. Sacha helped out by taste-testing and toddler-wrangling and I did most of the picking. We ended up with five cartons of berries, some of which we'll use now and some that will be frozen. Here are some photos of our afternoon, and a video, too.
This may be photo overload, but this sequence is just too funny not to include. Mateo apparently felt rather possessive of the strawberries, because when we put him and them in the wagon to go and pay, he started gathering the cartons closer and closer, one by one.
And here's the video. You can hear us cracking up in the background.
(For some reason, the video is turned sideways. . . we aren't sure how to rotate it!)
Sacha finished up school yesterday and officially started summer/maternity leave today! She was going to have to work today too, but she worked a longer day yesterday and then conveniently had a contraction in the office, which prompted the secretary to tell her to just go home already. And so she did.
We've had a lovely week and actually (this is much easier for me to say since I'm not massively pregnant) it's been nice to have a few extra days before our family grows by one member. The three of us have been having a great time together. These feel like special bonus days. Actually, they kind of feel like when I was overdue with Mateo and we got do all sorts of extra stuff we didn't think we'd have time for.
On Tuesday, our friends Emily and Eric watched Mateo so we could go out to dinner. Interestingly, and totally without planning it this way, we went out to the same restaurant at the exact same time in my pregnancy. 40 weeks and 2 days. Somehow it just happened that it was the same day. Crazy. We had a lovely time together. In a reverse of last time, I got to have a drink and Sacha abstained. And, of course we both enjoyed the delicious food.
Today, to celebrate Sacha's first day off, we went strawberry picking! (Actually, first, Sacha had a chiropractic appointment and then she went to acupuncture to try to help encourage labor to start sometime soon. While she was gone at the chiropractor, Mateo decided I was just waiting too long to try to put him down for his nap, so he opted to fall asleep on my shoulder while I was on the phone!)
Anyway, we got our acts together this afternoon and went berry picking. We've been trying to think of activities for the days so that we won't go crazy with the waiting and this was our first outing. We had SO much fun. The sun finally came out and it was warm and beautiful and we were all happy. Mateo just went wild for the strawberries. Sacha helped out by taste-testing and toddler-wrangling and I did most of the picking. We ended up with five cartons of berries, some of which we'll use now and some that will be frozen. Here are some photos of our afternoon, and a video, too.
This may be photo overload, but this sequence is just too funny not to include. Mateo apparently felt rather possessive of the strawberries, because when we put him and them in the wagon to go and pay, he started gathering the cartons closer and closer, one by one.
And here's the video. You can hear us cracking up in the background.
(For some reason, the video is turned sideways. . . we aren't sure how to rotate it!)
Monday, June 9, 2008
40 week appointment
Sacha had her 40 week appointment today and Mateo and I came along, as we always do. Baby is looking great and has plenty of fluid. Our nurse practitioner is awesome. I told her how I keep getting worried about the baby having cord problems when she comes out (Sacha made the mistake of showing me a birth horror story online that I haven't been able to forget about) and the NP did a quickie ultrasound to make sure everything was ok and check the fluid levels. Everything looks good and I feel much better now!
Not too much has changed in terms of dilation or effacement - the cervix is still soft and possibly a little shorter, but that's about it. If Sacha's still pregnant by next Monday, she'll have a non-stress test and a biophysical profile of the baby (basically an ultrasound to make sure all is well), and then if she's still pregnant a week after that, then we'll probably do an induction right at 42 weeks. However, we all hope we'll have our baby way before that. Sacha was feeling a little discouraged after the appointment, but she seems to have bounced back. As her activity director, I have now scheduled a soak in our hot tub and an early bedtime!
(Sacha: And as her faithful participator, I, of course, will follow the activity schedule to a tee! My only question is can a cruise ship fit in a hot tub?)
Not too much has changed in terms of dilation or effacement - the cervix is still soft and possibly a little shorter, but that's about it. If Sacha's still pregnant by next Monday, she'll have a non-stress test and a biophysical profile of the baby (basically an ultrasound to make sure all is well), and then if she's still pregnant a week after that, then we'll probably do an induction right at 42 weeks. However, we all hope we'll have our baby way before that. Sacha was feeling a little discouraged after the appointment, but she seems to have bounced back. As her activity director, I have now scheduled a soak in our hot tub and an early bedtime!
(Sacha: And as her faithful participator, I, of course, will follow the activity schedule to a tee! My only question is can a cruise ship fit in a hot tub?)
Sunday, June 8, 2008
The due date is here . . . yah
Well, I just can't believe that we all made it to 40 weeks and that I have made it to my due date. I thought this day would never come. For such a long time it seemed like it was this way out there date in the future that would never be here! But, here it is.
We all had a wonderful day. As Alayna mentioned earlier, it is a Sunday, so I got up with Mateo and she got to sleep in today. From 5:45 on till brunch, I mostly worked on cooking in the kitchen. If it had not been planned ahead of time that we were having a brunch, you could excuse me for thinking "wow, maybe this is nesting!" But no, the brunch had been planned and it was a great way to start off the day. Alayna helped tremendously by going to the store to get cinnamon, a little ingredient in cinnamon rolls that I forgot about! LOL. She also got out all of the ingredients, which was more helpful than you can imagine, and did tons of other things!
After brunch, I was just exhausted and Alayna offered to take Mateo to the park and let me get in a little nap. They didn't get more than three blocks before he fell asleep and Mateo and I both ended up taking a nice 1.5 hour nap. Go naps. I've gotten better these last few weeks about really sleeping when he sleeps. And, ever since I've started acupuncture, I've had a bit more energy overall.
After the nap, I fed Mateo and me half of a laughing planet burrito, and then we all headed out to the Bybee lakes with Lili and Eliza. We had a fabulous time walking, looking at guppies, pushing the stroller, running down the path (Mateo. . . not me) and enjoying the day.
Everyone, except me, pushing the stroller at the same time! Someone had to take the picture:)
After the walk, everyone, that would be everyone, except Mateo, was tired. . . so we all hung out in the car for a while. Mateo was happily driving us, and would have loved to drive us home, if only he knew how. Instead, he got to practice driving, while Alayna and I tried to relax for a few minutes. After we got home, our energetic boy wanted to be bounced on the yoga ball, non-stop and play "Where's Mateo?" a very lovely hide and go seek type of game!
We finished off this beautiful day with some Thai food ordered in and are going to watch some Sex in the City.
Overall, I feel big and like it is hard to move around some of the time, and just like myself at other times. It is surreal that I could technically go into labor at any time, or it could be 14 days. I try not to obsess about it. Although some moments I think, this is never going to end, and I'll never go into labor, most of the time I feel pretty ok about everything. My body knows when the time will be.
Speaking of my body, I have been calling my belly the cruise ship lately. This is the picture that inspired that comment in the first place! She is slow to move, takes turns at her own pace, and has her very own activity director!
We all had a wonderful day. As Alayna mentioned earlier, it is a Sunday, so I got up with Mateo and she got to sleep in today. From 5:45 on till brunch, I mostly worked on cooking in the kitchen. If it had not been planned ahead of time that we were having a brunch, you could excuse me for thinking "wow, maybe this is nesting!" But no, the brunch had been planned and it was a great way to start off the day. Alayna helped tremendously by going to the store to get cinnamon, a little ingredient in cinnamon rolls that I forgot about! LOL. She also got out all of the ingredients, which was more helpful than you can imagine, and did tons of other things!
After brunch, I was just exhausted and Alayna offered to take Mateo to the park and let me get in a little nap. They didn't get more than three blocks before he fell asleep and Mateo and I both ended up taking a nice 1.5 hour nap. Go naps. I've gotten better these last few weeks about really sleeping when he sleeps. And, ever since I've started acupuncture, I've had a bit more energy overall.
After the nap, I fed Mateo and me half of a laughing planet burrito, and then we all headed out to the Bybee lakes with Lili and Eliza. We had a fabulous time walking, looking at guppies, pushing the stroller, running down the path (Mateo. . . not me) and enjoying the day.
Everyone, except me, pushing the stroller at the same time! Someone had to take the picture:)
After the walk, everyone, that would be everyone, except Mateo, was tired. . . so we all hung out in the car for a while. Mateo was happily driving us, and would have loved to drive us home, if only he knew how. Instead, he got to practice driving, while Alayna and I tried to relax for a few minutes. After we got home, our energetic boy wanted to be bounced on the yoga ball, non-stop and play "Where's Mateo?" a very lovely hide and go seek type of game!
We finished off this beautiful day with some Thai food ordered in and are going to watch some Sex in the City.
Overall, I feel big and like it is hard to move around some of the time, and just like myself at other times. It is surreal that I could technically go into labor at any time, or it could be 14 days. I try not to obsess about it. Although some moments I think, this is never going to end, and I'll never go into labor, most of the time I feel pretty ok about everything. My body knows when the time will be.
Speaking of my body, I have been calling my belly the cruise ship lately. This is the picture that inspired that comment in the first place! She is slow to move, takes turns at her own pace, and has her very own activity director!
Happy due date!
We celebrated our little girl's due date this morning with a delicious brunch and our good friends who are also expecting their second very soon. Sacha cooked mini-quiches and cinnamon rolls that were to die for - they were called Clone of a Cinnabon and wow, they lived up to their name. I told Sacha I was going to have to take a photo of her rolling out the dough for the rolls at 40 weeks pregnant, but then Mateo distracted me and I never managed to do it. Imagine it in your minds, if you will. She is amazing.
Nothing happening in laborland, but we are enjoying a beautiful Sunday with sunshine, our energetic son, and as much relaxation as we can get. Hard to ask for anything more than that!
Nothing happening in laborland, but we are enjoying a beautiful Sunday with sunshine, our energetic son, and as much relaxation as we can get. Hard to ask for anything more than that!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Two things
One, this conversation from a few days ago. M and I were at a burrito place that has dinosaur toys on the table. I pointed out a stegosaurus on a nearby counter. I also mentioned that he was holding a brontosaurus in his hands. He thought this all over for a minute and then said the following:
"Stegosaurus... brontosaurus... Mateosaurus!"
Two, here's a photo from a recent trip to the arboretum. We hardly have any photos of me and M from recently and I thought this one turned out really well.
"Stegosaurus... brontosaurus... Mateosaurus!"
Two, here's a photo from a recent trip to the arboretum. We hardly have any photos of me and M from recently and I thought this one turned out really well.
Friday, June 6, 2008
19-month letter
Dear Mateo,
Unless something dramatic happens in the next 15 minutes, it appears that we will have been wrong about you having a sister before your next letter was written! You do already have a sister, of course, but she is still happily ensconced in Mommy's tummy. You still seem interested in her, but the fascination is not quite what it once was. Perhaps we started talking about the new baby too early? In any case, she will most certainly be out by the time you are 20 months old (Mommy notes that she'd better be out by then!) and we will all be learning how to be a family of four.
For now, you are a great little 19-month-old to be around. You are just so much fun these days. Here's a snapshot of what you've been up to.
Talking:
You still love to talk and you're learning more every day. You now say short sentences regularly. You've begun to direct us rather, well, how should we say this?, forthrightly. "Mama sliding this slide!", for example. You have fallen in love with the -ing ending. You say it like a little southern gentleman, a la Mommy walkin', Mama runnin', Mateo eatin'. Having not quite learned to conjugate all verbs or to use tenses yet, you give everything the -ing treatment.
Your sentences remind me of the one year I took beginning German in high school and learned that, in German (I think I remember this right), you can put words in any order you want in a sentence. You just have to have them all in there. This is how you make sentences right now. It the best is.
You are infatuated with wishing your Auntie Edlyn and your Uncle Galen happy birthday over and over, day in and day out. Apparently, their birthdays made quite an impression!
Phones:
You and pretend phone conversations are best friends. You will play with Mommy forever, directing her to tell you who's calling and what they say. In particular, you like to call Papa, Bubby, Grammy and Grandpa. Sometimes you even call yourself and we have pretend conversations together. Almost anything can be a phone, from the baby monitor to the ipod. You love phones! You love hanging them up even more!
Movement:
You run everywhere. Around the house, down the street, around the park, etc. When we go out with other kids your age, it becomes clear that you are actually more cautious than many of them - ie, playing on the swings for 15 minutes instead of running the pants off your mom - but you nonetheless love to get places. Here you are with Uncle Galen at the park.
Cuddles and kisses:
We love your cuddles and hope we never stop getting them. You've learned about getting kisses when you get a booboo and this seems to make all the difference. You'll bonk your head and come to us saying "head kiss!". Or "finger kiss!" Then, after we kiss it, you'll say, in this sweet little voice, "All better?" and then resume playing. You sometime cuddle your stuffed animals or have us cuddle them. If you're really upset, you'll sometimes say "need cuddles right now!"
Books:
You love them. What can we say? You are a book boy. Some of your favorite books right now are "Planting a Rainbow" and "Los Sonidos de la Calle." We read one of those to you almost every day, sometimes over five times in a day!
Flowers:
You will try to sniff them when we're out walking. Could anything be cuter? You have a book called Planting a Rainbow and now can identify cornflowers, daisies, marigolds, morning glories, and some other ones, in the book. Wow! Actually, speaking of that, you can also identify some letters (Q, W, Y, Z, J) and can count most of the numbers up to ten in English and Spanish with some prompting. Here you are with something like a cornflower on a recent expedition...
Water:
Your latest obsession is sitting on the counter and playing with the kitchen stuff up there. Earlier this week, when Mommy had to go back to work and I was still getting over being sick, I filled up the sink with warm water and plopped you in. This was the best idea I have ever had. You played in there for about an hour and you were the very picture of happiness. Here are some photos.
That's about all we can think of for now. Oh, one more thing - you learned how to say your name! You started with Teo, which we regularly call you now, and then added the Ma. Now you like to narrate what you're doing all the time. We love it. And we love you. You just light up our lives. We are the luckiest moms alive. Seriously. We hit the jackpot when we had you.
With all our love and lots of cuddles,
Mama and Mommy
Unless something dramatic happens in the next 15 minutes, it appears that we will have been wrong about you having a sister before your next letter was written! You do already have a sister, of course, but she is still happily ensconced in Mommy's tummy. You still seem interested in her, but the fascination is not quite what it once was. Perhaps we started talking about the new baby too early? In any case, she will most certainly be out by the time you are 20 months old (Mommy notes that she'd better be out by then!) and we will all be learning how to be a family of four.
For now, you are a great little 19-month-old to be around. You are just so much fun these days. Here's a snapshot of what you've been up to.
Talking:
You still love to talk and you're learning more every day. You now say short sentences regularly. You've begun to direct us rather, well, how should we say this?, forthrightly. "Mama sliding this slide!", for example. You have fallen in love with the -ing ending. You say it like a little southern gentleman, a la Mommy walkin', Mama runnin', Mateo eatin'. Having not quite learned to conjugate all verbs or to use tenses yet, you give everything the -ing treatment.
Your sentences remind me of the one year I took beginning German in high school and learned that, in German (I think I remember this right), you can put words in any order you want in a sentence. You just have to have them all in there. This is how you make sentences right now. It the best is.
You are infatuated with wishing your Auntie Edlyn and your Uncle Galen happy birthday over and over, day in and day out. Apparently, their birthdays made quite an impression!
Phones:
You and pretend phone conversations are best friends. You will play with Mommy forever, directing her to tell you who's calling and what they say. In particular, you like to call Papa, Bubby, Grammy and Grandpa. Sometimes you even call yourself and we have pretend conversations together. Almost anything can be a phone, from the baby monitor to the ipod. You love phones! You love hanging them up even more!
Movement:
You run everywhere. Around the house, down the street, around the park, etc. When we go out with other kids your age, it becomes clear that you are actually more cautious than many of them - ie, playing on the swings for 15 minutes instead of running the pants off your mom - but you nonetheless love to get places. Here you are with Uncle Galen at the park.
Cuddles and kisses:
We love your cuddles and hope we never stop getting them. You've learned about getting kisses when you get a booboo and this seems to make all the difference. You'll bonk your head and come to us saying "head kiss!". Or "finger kiss!" Then, after we kiss it, you'll say, in this sweet little voice, "All better?" and then resume playing. You sometime cuddle your stuffed animals or have us cuddle them. If you're really upset, you'll sometimes say "need cuddles right now!"
Books:
You love them. What can we say? You are a book boy. Some of your favorite books right now are "Planting a Rainbow" and "Los Sonidos de la Calle." We read one of those to you almost every day, sometimes over five times in a day!
Flowers:
You will try to sniff them when we're out walking. Could anything be cuter? You have a book called Planting a Rainbow and now can identify cornflowers, daisies, marigolds, morning glories, and some other ones, in the book. Wow! Actually, speaking of that, you can also identify some letters (Q, W, Y, Z, J) and can count most of the numbers up to ten in English and Spanish with some prompting. Here you are with something like a cornflower on a recent expedition...
Water:Your latest obsession is sitting on the counter and playing with the kitchen stuff up there. Earlier this week, when Mommy had to go back to work and I was still getting over being sick, I filled up the sink with warm water and plopped you in. This was the best idea I have ever had. You played in there for about an hour and you were the very picture of happiness. Here are some photos.
That's about all we can think of for now. Oh, one more thing - you learned how to say your name! You started with Teo, which we regularly call you now, and then added the Ma. Now you like to narrate what you're doing all the time. We love it. And we love you. You just light up our lives. We are the luckiest moms alive. Seriously. We hit the jackpot when we had you.
With all our love and lots of cuddles,
Mama and Mommy
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Thursday
Still here, still pregnant! I'm all better and feeling good. Sacha's as pregnant as ever and doing great. No signs of labor as yet. Due date is Sunday. Next doctor's appointment is Monday. We'll keep you posted!
Monday, June 2, 2008
On the mend
I would just like to say that I love antibiotics. My fever started falling within several hours of my first dose and it broke completely last night. Which is a good thing, considering Mateo was up four times last night and I was up for three of them. When he woke up again at 5 am, Sacha got up like a saint and somehow got them both back to sleep in the big comfy chair in his room. Only, it's not so comfy if you're 39 weeks pregnant. She rocks and I really appreciated the extra sleep.
So, I am feeling much better. Astonishingly better, when you consider that I spent yesterday like a zombie and 24 hours ago was not a happy camper. Sore throat is much better, fever is gone, and I can actually eat again. Things are looking up!
I even felt better enough this afternoon for us to keep our date that we had planned (some friends had offered to babysit M this afternoon so we could go see the Sex and the City movie, one of our not-so-secret vices), since going to sit in a movie theater was actually much less activity than either one of us would have gotten away with at home! It was the second movie we've seen in the theater since M was born and the first since Sacha got pregnant.
Now, if my glands would just return to their normal size, I'll be as good as new.
Thanks for all the good thoughts sent our way :)
PS: Sacha called in sick today to lend a hand at home, which likely set off a flurry of labor assumptions at her school. I'm sure she'll have an interesting entrance tomorrow when she walks in with the baby still in her belly!
So, I am feeling much better. Astonishingly better, when you consider that I spent yesterday like a zombie and 24 hours ago was not a happy camper. Sore throat is much better, fever is gone, and I can actually eat again. Things are looking up!
I even felt better enough this afternoon for us to keep our date that we had planned (some friends had offered to babysit M this afternoon so we could go see the Sex and the City movie, one of our not-so-secret vices), since going to sit in a movie theater was actually much less activity than either one of us would have gotten away with at home! It was the second movie we've seen in the theater since M was born and the first since Sacha got pregnant.
Now, if my glands would just return to their normal size, I'll be as good as new.
Thanks for all the good thoughts sent our way :)
PS: Sacha called in sick today to lend a hand at home, which likely set off a flurry of labor assumptions at her school. I'm sure she'll have an interesting entrance tomorrow when she walks in with the baby still in her belly!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Pity party
We went to a lovely baby shower yesterday afternoon, capping off our very productive day. We spent most of the party outside, and, as I wasn't wearing any sunscreen, I wrote off feeling hot about an hour after we got home to too much time in the sun.
Then I felt cold. Then hot again. Then hot and cold at the same time. Eventually, I decided to take my temperature. 100 degrees. Crap! And a sore throat that suddenly became awful. By this morning, after a very uncomfortable night, it was up to almost 101. Thanks to my lovely wife's efforts, I've spent the day resting and alternately shivering under the covers and then throwing them off when I started to boil again.
Sacha's parents, both health practitioners, suggested we check out my throat for strep, but our flashlight seems to have disappeared. Eventually, Apa brought one over around 3:00 pm and lo and behold, my throat is filled with white stuff. I'm glad I didn't have to see it. Hopefully some antibiotics will bring this under control and I'll start feeling better soon. And hopefully S and M won't get it. Since last night, we've been crossing our fingers and praying that Sacha doesn't go into labor before I start feeling better! Otherwise, we're going to have one interesting birth story to tell...
Then I felt cold. Then hot again. Then hot and cold at the same time. Eventually, I decided to take my temperature. 100 degrees. Crap! And a sore throat that suddenly became awful. By this morning, after a very uncomfortable night, it was up to almost 101. Thanks to my lovely wife's efforts, I've spent the day resting and alternately shivering under the covers and then throwing them off when I started to boil again.
Sacha's parents, both health practitioners, suggested we check out my throat for strep, but our flashlight seems to have disappeared. Eventually, Apa brought one over around 3:00 pm and lo and behold, my throat is filled with white stuff. I'm glad I didn't have to see it. Hopefully some antibiotics will bring this under control and I'll start feeling better soon. And hopefully S and M won't get it. Since last night, we've been crossing our fingers and praying that Sacha doesn't go into labor before I start feeling better! Otherwise, we're going to have one interesting birth story to tell...
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